An Appeal from the “Article
Nine Association”

The Japanese constitution
now faces a great challenge.
Through the use of weapons
reaching the cruelty of the atomic
bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
the Second World War claimed over
fifty million lives. As a result,
the citizens of the world learned
the lesson that resorting to force
should never be an option, even
for the purpose of resolving international
disputes.
Bearing an enormous responsibility
for having continuously pursued
a war of invasion, Japan decided
to work towards realizing this
global vision, and thus established
a constitution including Article
Nine which stipulated the renunciation
of war and of military force.
Yet today, half a century
later, the movement to “revise”
the Japanese constitution, and
Article Nine in particular, has
risen to the forefront with an
unprecedented scale and intensity.
The proponents of that movement
intend for Japan to follow the
United States and change into a
“war-waging country.” For that
reason, they authorize the use
of the right to collective self-defense,
dispatch the Japanese Self Defense
Forces overseas, allow their use
of force, and commit other such
actions that, for all intents and
purposes, violate the restrictions
of the constitution. Moreover,
they are trying to do away with
such important measures and policies
as the three non-nuclear principles
and the ban on arms exports. Finally,
in order to raise children to become
leaders of a “war-waging country,”
they are trying to change the Fundamental
Law of Education. This essentially
alters the state of the nation
that the Japanese constitution
has aimed to achieve, threatening
to convert Japan from a country
that strives to resolve conflicts
without military force to a nation
that prioritizes military action
above all else. We cannot allow
that conversion to occur.
The United States’ attack
on Iraq and the morass of the occupation
that followed makes it clearer
to us day by day that the resolution
of conflict through force is unrealistic.
The use of force only results in
robbing a country and its people
of their livelihood and of their
happiness. Since the 1990s, armed
interventions by major nations
into regional conflicts have also
failed to result in effective resolutions.
That is why, in such places as
Europe and Southeast Asia, efforts
are being strengthened to create
regional frameworks that can help
to resolve conflicts through diplomacy
and dialogue.
Today, as we question our
path in the 21st century based
on the lessons of the 20th, the
importance of grounding diplomacy
on Article Nine emerges with renewed
clarity. To call the dispatch of
Self Defense Forces into countries
that do not welcome it an “international
contribution” is nothing more than
arrogance.
Based on Article Nine, Japan needs to develop ties of friendship and cooperation with the peoples of Asia and other regions, and change a diplomatic stance that only prioritizes a military alliance with the United States. Japan must play an active role in the tide of world history by exercising its autonomy and acting in a pragmatic manner. It is precisely because of Article Nine that Japan can engage its partner nations in peaceful diplomacy while respecting their various positions, and collaborate with them in the fields of economy, culture, science and technology.
In order to join hands with
all peace-seeking citizens of the
globe, we feel that we must strive
to shine the light of Article Nine
upon this turbulent world. To that
end, each and every citizen, as
sovereign members of this country,
needs to personally adopt the Japanese
constitution, with its Article
Nine, and reaffirm their belief
in it through their daily actions.
This is a responsibility that the
sovereign members share for the
future state of their country.
Thus, in the interest of a peaceful
future for Japan and the world,
we would like to appeal to each
and every citizen to come together
for the protection of the Japanese
constitution: You must begin making
every possible effort to thwart
these attempts at “constitutional
revision,” and you must begin today.